Artimus Bowman (D5)
Artimus Bowman is the Commander of the Battlestar Hermes. At the time of the destruction of the colonies he was married to Brooke Bowman (nee ''Garner) but had no children. Biography Early Life Artimus was born on Caprica about a year after the end of the First Cylon War. By the time he attended school much of the devastation of that brutal conflict had been cleared away and he had very little memory of the effect Cylons had on his colony. It was during his High School days that he became estranged from his father and went to live with his grandparents in Delphi. His grandfather would have a major impact on the direction of Artimus's life. Fascinated by his grandfather's exploits as a Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) pilot during the war Artimus decided to join the Colonial Fleet. Although proud, his grandfather insisted that Artimus be prepared for what may lay ahead and so he allowed him to read his journals of the war. The horrors within the journals failed to discourage Artimus and he joined the military at nineteen. Colonial Career Battlestar ''Daedalus Once he had graduated from the Academy Artimus chose to fly Raptors rather than Vipers, to honor his grandfather, and served a training tour aboard the Battlestar Daedalus. ''Details are unclear but at some point Artimus was involved in an accident that claimed the life of a fellow pilot. Although a Board of Inquiry cleared him of all responsibility he felt guilty for the death and never forgave himself. Battlestar ''Valkyrie After Daedalus Bowman spent much of his career abord the Battlestar Valkyrie eventually rising up to the position of CAG. Approximately six years before 'The Fall' he was significantly involved in an operation to rescue President Adar's sister and niece from the SLA terrorist organization. It was during this time that he met Commander Scott Tolan (later Admiral). Battlestar Cerberus Four years before ‘The Fall’ Artimus Bowman was promoted to Colonel and became the ship’s XO. This assignment caused friction with the Chief Engineer Barry Garner. The previous year Artimus had married his younger sister Brooke much to the anger of Garner. Garner felt that the relationship was wrong for several reasons not least of which was the ten year age difference between the two and as such refused to attend the wedding. He then blamed the rift that had appeared between him and Brooke on Artimus. After two years Garner transferred to the Battlestar Pegasus. Many believe that the two of them had grown to hate each other so much that they couldn’t bare to be on the same ship any longer. One year later Bowman was promoted to Commander and assumed command of the Battlestar Hermes. Battlestar Hermes This assignment was not without its own controversy however. The XO of the Hermes, Caleb Dytto, had served aboard the vessel for four years previously and expected to get command of the ship however he was unpopular with the Admiralty. Bowman on the other hand had the endorsement of the now Rear Admiral Scott Tolan and this ensured his appointment to the post. Dytto felt the Admiralty was playing favourites and made it no secret that he felt he deserved the post. Nevertheless Artimus kept him around because he could see something in Dytto that few others could. The two of them had a strained relationship aboard the Battlestar but somehow it worked well. After 'The Fall' When the Hermes crew stumbled upon the Cylon CNP computer virus two days before the attack on the Twelve Colonies Artimus’ first thoughts were to get back to the Colonies as quickly as possible. He believed, quite correctly, that such a virus would have only been put in place in order to launch an attack but he had no idea when the attack was coming. With the major systems of the Hermes down they couldn’t even launch a Raptor to warn the fleet. By the time the Major systems were repaired it was too late. The Hermes arrived above Picon just in time to witness the start of the planetary bombardment. The Week of Hell Hermes was the only Battlestar capable of fighting the Cylons having erased all trace of the CNP virus from their systems. Despite the impossible odds Artimus felt he had no choice but to fight the Cylons. Although the Hermes gave a good account of itself it was hopelessly outnumbered and knowing the futility of fighting on he gave the most difficult order of his career - abandon the Colonies. For the next five days the Hermes was pursued relentlessly through space by the Cylons until they appeared to finally escape them. During this 'week of hell' ''Artimus reasoned that it was only a matter of time before they were destroyed and in his own way was prepared for it personally. It was his desire to keep those under his command alive however that drove him on and he refused to give up the fight for survival. The ''Scylla A turning point in Artimus Bowman's new life as a Commander of a Battlestar on the run came when the ship stumbled upon three civilian vessels apparently adrift in space. Category:Colonial Personnel Category:Battlestar Galactica (RDM) Category:Stub-Working on it